


of metal arms and apologies

by madhattxr



Series: Hattxr's collection of Marvel ship one shots [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cute, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Minor Wanda Maximoff/Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Steve Rogers is done with Buckys shit, Steve ships winteriron, if you squint real hard, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26977360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madhattxr/pseuds/madhattxr
Summary: The relationship between James 'Bucky' Barnes and the rest of the Avengers team was strained to say the least. Steve had made up with Stark, cleared his name and gotten all the charges against James dropped. They all ended up moving back into the tower, including Barnes. But, that doesn't mean he was forgiven by 'Team Iron Man' as the media had dubbed them.He understood their anger though, so he tried not to let it bother him. However, there was one person he felt that he needed to apologise to. Tony Stark. It was him who murdered Starks parents in cold blood. It was him that made the genius an orphan.So, here he was. Sitting in his room in the tower, removing one of the metal plates that cover the inner workings of his left arm.-Or a one-shot in which James breaks his metal arm to find a way to apologise to Tony and ends up falling in love along the way.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Hattxr's collection of Marvel ship one shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969147
Comments: 4
Kudos: 88





	of metal arms and apologies

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't the first one-shot I've written about these two but it is the first one I've been proud enough to post. Constructive criticism is allowed but I will not accept hate. This was also posted on wattpad under the username mad-hattxr2. It had been posted in a one-shot book so any marvel one-shots I post separately on here will all be posted in that book, if you see this on anything other than these two sites please inform me, thank you.
> 
> Thank you and enjoy.

The relationship between James 'Bucky' Barnes and the rest of the Avengers team was strained to say the least. Steve had made up with Stark, cleared his name and gotten all the charges against James dropped. They all ended up moving back into the tower, including Barnes. But, that doesn't mean he was forgiven by 'Team Iron Man' as the media had dubbed them. 

He understood their anger though, so he tried not to let it bother him. However, there was one person he felt that he needed to apologise to. Tony Stark. It was him who murdered Starks parents in cold blood. It was him that made the genius an orphan.

So, here he was. Sitting in his room in the tower, removing one of the metal plates that cover the inner workings of his left arm. It was taking him longer than he had expected, hours longer. HA! THERE! He had finally removed it. Now, time for phase 2 of his plan.

He reached behind him with his right hand and felt around until his fingers brushed against his target, a large screwdriver. He pulled it to his left arm, blue eyes focused. James stabbed the big screwdriver in his arm, grunting as it shot electric currents up to his shoulder. He continued stabbing at the wiring, ignoring the shooting pain it was causing. After all, he needed an excuse to speak to Stark.

Twenty minutes later the war veteran was finished with his task, metal arm stuck in one position not looking like it'd be moving anytime soon, standing in front of Starks lab, debating whether or not to knock. Finally making up his mind, James had just raised his hand to knock at the door when the door opened. If he hadn't gone through decades of torture and training he would have jumped.

Tony had patches of oil placed randomly on his skin and clothing, meaning he'd probably been working on an engine of some sorts. "Barnes?" he asked, confused. 

"Uh, hi. I was just-" James cut himself off. Way to make yourself look like a punk Barnes!

"You were just..?" Tony pressed, brows furrowed. James' eyes focused on the frown lines that became more visible when he did that. Stop staring!

James blinked, trying to figure out how to describe why he was there. All of the stuff HYDRA did to his brain over the decades meant he found it extremely difficult to find the words he wanted to say. It frustrated him often but knew that he couldn't complain. He was alive wasn't he? "Um, my arm it's uh... it's not working," he finally said after half a minute of silence.

Tony's eyebrows just furrowed even more, this time in thought. He sighed, stepping to the side, opening the door further. "Come on, I'll see what the problem is."

Barnes sent him a small smile in thanks and entered the lab. His eyes scanned the room, there was a large desk in the middle of the room, which acted as a workbench if the tools scattered across it meant anything. Stark grabbed a chair and placed it near the end of the work bench before grabbing another and placing it a little bit away from the first. He looked over at Barnes before gesturing to the chair, "take a seat."

James rushed over to the chair and took a seat, left arm still not moving. The genius sat in the other seat, grabbing at different tools on the bench before finding the one he needed. His brown eyes focused on the metal appendage in front of him, frowning.

He began to take off all of the metal plates to see where the issue was. This would take a while. "I- I'm sorry Stark," James stated, a rather large lump in his throat.

"Don't worry about it Barnes, if I didn't fix your arm, who would?" Tony said, before shoving on of the many tools he's using between his teeth.

James closed his eyes for a second, trying to find a way to explain it so he would understand. "No, Stark, I'm sorry. For everything I did to hurt you, and for everything HYDRA made me do," he rephrased.

Stark paused his work, glancing up at him before looking away. He continued with his work without a reply so James kept talking, "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I'm gonna try. I have no idea how but I will Stark, because what I did-" he stopped, not knowing how to continue.

Tony just ignored him, poking around at the wiring in his arm. Apparently, he hadn't done as much damage as he'd wished, only dislodging a few wires and damaging one. The genius replaced the broken one and put the others back where they were meant to be before swiftly replacing the metal plates. As he'd discovered earlier, putting them back on was a much easier job than removing them.

"There, its fixed," Stark said, voice strained.

The war veteran sighed sadly as he flexed his arm and wrist. "Thank you, Stark. And I really am sorry," he said before climbing out of his seat and leaving the lab.

He didn't hear from Tony at all during the weeks following his visit to the lab. He didn't even see him in passing whenever he was walking round the tower. Great, he'd messed everything up. God, how could he be so stupid?

The sound of something smashing caught his attention and he looked down, sighing as he realised that he'd clenched his left hand to the point where his coffee mug had been smashed. He sighed, getting on his knees to tidy up the pieces of ceramic. James hissed as a piece sliced his knee but ignored it as he continued to clean.

Five minutes later he was sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, cutting his pant leg off with a knife he kept on him at all times because of a habit he can't seem to break. Glancing down at the cut, he sighed. It was deeper than he'd first thought and there seemed to be pieces of the mug stuck in it. Grasping his knife in a different position, James attempted to dig out the shards with it.

That's how Stark found him when he rushed into the kitchen. "Are you stupid, Barnes?" he exclaimed, making his way toward him. The billionaire just rolled his eyes when he sent him a confused look.

"You don't just go digging around a cut with a damn knife," he continued, crouching down in front of him to get a closer look at the wound.

"I've done it before," James said as if that was a good reason.

"AND? God when JARVIS told me you were doing this I thought he was joking."

"As you can see sir, I was not," JARVIS stated.

Tony seemed to have grabbed a pair of tweezers from somewhere and began removing the pieces from the cut while muttering to himself. "I don't understand how you've made it through life without the common knowledge that you don't go digging around in your wound with a goddamn knife!" he exclaimed.

James blushed, he was embarrassed. This is what he'd always done with HYDRA. With that thought, he knew he'd done a stupid thing.

A few days later he was sat in Stark's lab. He was stood near the workbench, confused as to why he was there. "I've been working on this for a while, and decided that, since it malfunctioned the other day, I'll give it to you," the genius said, walking over to him, a large box in his hand.

"What do you mean Stark?" James asked, confused. The man in question didn't respond, just handed him the box. He looked down at it before balancing it on his left arm and opening it with his free hand. The contents of the box made his eyes widen.

Inside was a metal arm, a darker grey with the avengers A replacing the red star. "Stark, I- this is too much. I can't accept this," he said, trying to hand the box back. The billionaire just rolled his eyes and started collecting tools.

"Shut it Barnes, you're taking the arm. Can't have you malfunctioning and breaking another one of my favourite mugs now can I?" Tony teased, a small smirk gracing his features. James blushed, he was embarrassed about the fact that he'd broken not just one, but five different mugs.

"Come sit, and get comfortable. I think we're going to be here for a little while."

Over the next few months Steve Rogers watched as his best friend from the war and one of his friends from the 21st century start getting along. He observed as Bucky joined Tony in the lab most nights, making sure he got to bed at a reasonable time and took care of himself. He also watched as they grew closer, random touches on the shoulder, brushing past the other even when there was more than enough room for them to get past.

A smile graced his lips, he was glad that his best friend was happy. He deserved it.

James sat in his room, feeling helpless. He'd gone and fallen for the man he was trying be friends with. Gosh, he'd really gone and fallen in love with the genius. A knock sounded at his door so he ran a hand over his face before calling "come in!"

Steve entered his room, a knowing smirk on his face. "Wipe that smirk off your face, punk," he grumbled before flopping backwards on his bed. He was acting like a damn teenager.

"Jerk," was all Steve said before walking over to his bed and taking a seat.

"Buck, I could sit here and act all concerned and ask you what's up or I could get straight to the advice. Your choice," he said.

"How do you-"

"Bucky, come on. Its obvious, you like Tony."

"Punk," was all he said, throwing his right arm over his eyes.

"Buck, you should tell him how you feel, and before you try and protest, he likes you back. I can see it. You make him happy, and he does the same for you. So, what you're gonna do, is you're gonna go to Natasha, or Wanda and ask them to pick you out an outfit. Then you're gonna go down to Stark's lab and you're gonna ask him on a date," Steve said, placing his hand on his right forearm.

"But Steve I can't-"

"Yes you can. And you're going to, because I'm sick of you pining over him Buck. And I know you know how I feel right now because you experienced the same thing when I was pining over Howard. And you told me to do exactly what I just told you," Steve ranted. He just wanted his best friend to be happy.

"Damn punk. Fine, I'll do it. But you go get Natasha, she kind of scares me."

Two days later, James was sat on his bed watching both Natasha and Wanda go through his wardrobe. They were muttering to each other and he was happy to just leave them to it. Natasha held up a burgundy shirt and black dress pants to show Wanda, who nodded.

The red head placed them next to the veteran, who was perched at the end of his soft mattress. He scowled, wouldn't this seem like he was trying too hard? "Stop thinking Bucky, what we've picked out is fine," Natasha admonished. He just rolled his eyes in response. This was why she scared him. Somehow, she was able to tell exactly what he was thinking without even glancing at him.

Thirty minutes had passed and James, freshly showered and dressed, was sat in front of a mirror. Natasha grabbed a brush and began gently blow drying his hair. He hadn't gotten it cut for while so it was down to his collarbones. He watched as she pulled a hair tie off her wrist and blanched.

"Oh calm down, I'm putting your hair in a bun. It's not like I'm chopping it all off."

He calmed down, the feeling of her slender fingers running through his hair was quite relaxing. "There, we're finished," Natasha said, softly.

Wanda looked up from where she was playing with her magic and lit up. "You look amazing, Bucky," she said, proud of what she and Natasha had done.

He sent her a shy smile, something that had happened a lot over the past two hours, and grabbed the smart black shoes they had bought for him. He put them on before struggling with the laces. Though the new arm Stark gave him was easier to use with multiple tasks, he still struggled with tying smaller things. It required a precision he hadn't been able to master with either of his metal arms.

Wanda smiled sadly and bent down at his feet to tie them for him. "Thank you, Wanda," he said, blush forming on his freshly shaven cheeks.

"Don't worry about it, милая," she responded. (sweet)

They hurriedly threw a black trench coat at him before ushering him out of the room. "Pepper managed to get Stark out of his lab and dressed, JARVIS, where is he now?" Natasha asked.

'Sir is in the kitchen, would you like me to inform him of Mr Barnes' arrival?'

"NO!" the women exclaimed.

"Okay любовник it's time." (loverboy)

Barnes entered the kitchen silently, it was a habit he couldn't break and more often than not, he had to force himself to make his footfalls heavier. Tony turned round, jumping in fright. "Barnes?" he asked, confused.

"Um- I was just- I was wondering if-" he sighed in frustration before taking a deep breath to calm down. Tony looked amazing, as always, in his AC/DC t-shirt, blazer and dress pants. "I was wondering if you'd like to grab dinner. With me."

Tony still looked confused before a few moments before his eyes widened in realisation. The realisation that Barnes was asking him out on a date. "Um- sure, yeah, definitely," he responded.

James was glad that Stark had turned around to collect his things as a large grin spread across his face.

The restaurant Steve had recommended was quiet and a diner, which James was glad about. He didn't want their date to be interrupted by anyone other than the person taking their order and he hated the stuffy, classy restaurants.

"Hi, welcome to BK diner, I'll be your server-" the waitress looked up from her tablet, eyes widening. She cleared her throat before continuing, "for tonight."

Stark chuckled, used to this kind of reaction but Barnes smirked. It was a nice confidence boost, and gosh did he need it tonight. "Could we have the drinks menu, doll?" he asked, with a grin.

"Y-yes of course, sir. Would you like anything else?" she stammered, rushing to grab the menu. When she had returned, Stark took the time to read her name badge. 'Jenna'.

She placed the menu down in front of them, along with two food menus and Barnes snatched the drinks menu up before the billionaire could. He sent the man across from him a triumphant grin before opening it.

"Thanks, doll."

"Yeah, thanks Jemma," Tony sneered, rolling his eyes. James looked at him in confusion before his brows raised. Stark was jealous. Huh, he didn't seem like the type to get jealous.

"I'm thinking about getting a milkshake. What about you, sugar?" he asked him, the term of endearment rolling off of his tongue like honey. He watched as Tony blushed.

"Well, I'd know if someone would give me the menu," Tony teased. James just shot him a shit-eating grin, before passing the menu over to his companion.

Ten minutes later Jenna had returned to collect their order and their menus. "What would you like to order?" she asked. Ah, she had composed herself. Well, that's no good. He was enjoying making Stark jealous.

"Well, doll, I'd like the BK burger, with extra fries and some onion rings and some curly fries on top of that. I'd also like a vanilla milkshake. What about you, sugar?" James asked, looking at the billionaire, missing the way the waitress flushed.

"Hmm, I'd like pancakes with bacon and syrup. And a cola," he responded, staring straight into James' eyes.

"Of course, sir, your drinks will be right with you," Jenna said, coming to the realisation that the duo were actually on a date, not just grabbing a bite as friends.

An hour later, the duo had eaten, paid for the bill and taken a cab back to the tower, the conversation never ceasing.

"I forgive you, you know," Tony said after handing the cabbie the fee.

"What do you mean?" James asked, brushing his fingers against Tony's.

"For my parents, the airport, everything. It wasn't your fault. HYDRA scrambled your brains," he replied, taking the soldiers hand in his.

A big grin spread across James' face. "Thank you for tonight, Tony, I hope we " was all he said in response.

"Well, buckle up Barnes because I'm going to take you on the best date of your life," Tony said, walking them into the tower.

"Oh really? I'd love to see you try," he teased.

The two men teased each other until they both went to bed, twin grins on their faces.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any requests lemme know in the comments :)


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